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Hello Everyone. I have not posted since the middle of October - its been a really rough couple of weeks. After my previous post my girls had their Halloween party, I have been on mandatory overtime at work and my Father in law passed away after a 2 year battle with cancer.
I took some time that I needed and now I feel that its time to start getting back into the swing of posting, doing challengs and just enjoying my hobby again.


I do have a picture of some of the things we made for the girls Halloween party

In this photo we did Slime Packets, Candy Bar wrappers and witches hats!

The witch hat idea came from here! We also got the candy bar wrapper idea on SCS, here is the link. At the party the kids did a slime pit relay - when they were all done I made them each a bag with the directions on the back for each kid to make their own slime at home. Here are the directions for the slime:

You will need cornstarch, water, food coloring and buckets.

Prepare the slime by mixing one part water (tinted with a few drops of food coloring) to four parts cornstarch. Begin by rolling the ingredients around in a bucket; you'll find it easier than stirring the stuff. The slime is ready when it looks like a liquid but has a thick, smooth consistency that changes to ooze when touched. You might have to mix it with your hands for a minute before it's just right or add a little water if it's too dry. It's best to try out a small batch before the party so you can see how it works and estimate how much you'll need. Pour the slime into a cauldron (a bucket or bowl) for each team. You'll need two additional empty bowls for each team, as well.

Then we split the kids up into 2 groups and they ran back and forth to fill their pumpkins with slime.

I have posted pictures from the party along with others of the kids here.

Yesterday was Matthew's 2nd Birthday Party! My kids had a blast. Matthew aka Bubba - is the son I'll never, but Mommy shares him with me - I love him to pieces. He is upgrading from little boy to big boy bedroom!! Little did I know he was getting the new Cars big boy bed!! So this sign will be perfect for his room.

I have been wanting to make some of these for awhile and now that I got started I want to make more!! On this frame -its hard to see but the Gray Background is stamped in Racing Flags. I used my Cricut Disney Font and Disney Cars cartridges to make the letters and car. I snached Matthew's photo from his mommy's facebook page (Madelyn said it was needed - and it really made the frame - she thinks she is not creative but her mind works just like mine :) ) and layered in the same colors as the rest of the items. Matthews and Room are popped up with foam pop dots.

I use Circut's Design Studio to do multipal cuts at a time just as some do with the big machine - my little machine does a lot with the software. A great investment!

Looking at this now - I should have put the O in room on top of the M instead of underneath!!

Stamps: Burnin Rubber (retired TAC) ; Cardstock/Paper: Shimmer Red, Black, Gray, Yellow, Orang and Blue CS ; Ink: Versamark ; Accessories: Cricut, Disney Font Cartridge, Disney Cars Cartridge, popdots, Zip 2 way glue ; Techniques: layer with the Cricut, watermark stamping

I just wanted to quickly post updated photos of my Lovies!! They are growing so fast!!!

Witchie Witchie!!
I decided that I needed not only some stress relief to help clear my head but I also had to just on the bandwagon for blog challenges.

This is going to help me not only create more cards, but give me lots of goodies to post onto this blog as that is one of my goals to complete in my day zero challenge.

I have been looking at 'witch' to join for the past couple weeks. I have found two to get my started.
PricillaStyles: Midnight Madness
and
"Just Us Girls Challenge"

Both Challenges had a deadline of today - and I wanted to do both. So, I combined the challenges. For PricillaStyles we were to use this layout:
And for the JUG Challenge we were to paper piece and the optional use of the color pink!

And then I wanted to do a Halloween Card. So I dug out the stamps - This sent is retired from TAC - I have loved it since I first saw it and can't seem to part with it - even with all the other new Halloween sets out there. Since pink is not a traditional Halloween color I thought it was going to be a problem - but for the most part I think it turned out okay. Combining these challenges made it a little difficult for me since I am new to this challenge thing - but after the time I put into it - I am happy with out it turned out. The witches hat and dress, and the cats hat and dress are all paper pieced.

In the photo below you are able to see a little more of the paper piecing detail work.

The inside sentiment is below - I got out the little spider stamp and stamped him on there as well. I think this card with go to school with Madelyn for her teacher!

The Midnight Madness Blog Hop starts Friday October 16th - Click on the link on my side bar to read all about it!!

Stamps: Witchie Witchie (retired TAC) ; Cardstock/Paper: DCWV Paper - Christmas, Simply Spooky by TAC. Black, Pink, Yellow, Magenta and White CS ; Ink: Palette - Noir, Tria Pantone Markers 490T, 176T, 479T, 489T, Illustrator Black, Gelly Roll Pen - white ; Accessories: pop dots, Black organza ribbon, Black Diamond and Magenta stickles ; Techinques: Paper Piecing, Basic Stamping/Layering

Fall In Love
A friend of mine asked that I make her a sample of a wedding invitation for her. Her wedding is nect October and she wanted something rich in color, fall themed and branchy. I decided to do a tri-fold invite. On the outsided I embossed the tree branches in Irridecent Ice EP. It is wrapped in a organza and satin band. Where the swirly clip is the words Fall in Love will be scribed. (I am still working on a way to seal the band wrap. Once the band is slid off the inside is made up of layers of Really Rust, Very Vanilla and Vellum. I stamped the branchs on the Vanilla and used water colors and water color pencils to give a fall watercolored look around the branches.

Stamps: Branch (I have no clue where it came from) ; Cardstock/Paper: Vellum, Chocolate Chip, Really Rust, Very Vanilla CS ; Ink: Palette - Burnt Umber ; Accessories: chapagine organza ribbon, chocolate satin ribbon, Cuttlebug leaf, Irridecent Ice EP, Clear EP, Prismacolor water color pencils and regular water colors ; Techinques: Watercoloring, Embossing, Basic Stamping/Layering

One year ago today - I got the biggest shock of my life - I found out I was not only pregnant, but pregnant with TWINS!! To read that story click here. Now, having 4 children I am crazy busy but I wouldn't change it for anything - even on the bad days!! I have made huge decisions over the past year all because of my kids - reflecting on those decisions I am very happy that I a made them. It is a huge challenge to work at home but I do no miss those milestones with my girls. I love my girls and I love being their mom! Thank you for all of your support of the last year - I am so glad to have all of you in my life!!

Happy Halloween!!

I know it is early, but we are getting a headstart on our Kiddie Hallowee party. I did my best to do a simple invite for the girls. I wanted them to be able to help me put these together (unattended) while I tend to the babies etc. So, I did all of the prep work one day between preschool drop off and pick up. A basic postcard invite. Then Madelyn did the glueing of the stamped circles on top of the black circles - it did not matter to me if they were not in the same place from piece to piece or card to card. She also glued the patterned paper to the chartreuse cardstock. I then had Gracie stamp things that go bump in the night in the bottom right hand corner.

Stamps: Batty for you (SU!) and Bump in the Night (SUink.net)
Cardstock and Paper: chartreuse and orangerie cardstock; Simply Spooky (TAC's wingincollection)
Ink: Palette inks: noir black, chartreuse, charcoal and orangerie
Accessories:
Techniques:

Ceramic Tile Magnents
These were something that Madelyn and I did together as out Geo-Caching trades. When you geo-cache and you take something form the Cache you much leave something. So, we took these 2x2 ceramic tiles and stamped images from the Very Punny SU stamp set. Once dry we painted the images with ceramic/glass paint. Then, once that was dry we put a sealer top coat over the tile. Madelyn placed the magnent on the back and bagged up the tiles. Each time comes with a business card of sorts with our geocache name etc on it along with a matching stamped image colored in Bic Mark It markers.
I also made a photo box of sorts to practice taking better photos along with editing. Here is the link that I found that helped me out:
http://www.theswitchboards.com/articles_professionalphotos.html

Hey everyone! I am still breathing - just been really busy!
I wanted to share the great deals I got today - stuff the bag for $5

The local scrapbook store is in the process of moving so they had a specal - anything you can fit into a paperbag is yours for $5. So, I got there and they hand me a lunch bag - this is gonna be fun.So, Madelyn and I stuffed the bag!!
I got:a 12 month scrapbook calender
several months of rub ons for the calender
st patricks day stickers
canvas quote stickers
cardstock pieces
rubon bar codes
cardstock stickers
chip-paper tags
bottlecaps
pocket tags
Dye for the melting pot
scrapbook paint (2)
2 stamps
metal charms
more rub ons
embossing template
sequins
misc stickers
cd tin album template
I totalled up the prices - about $162 for $5 - Not bad at all!! This does not count the stuff the Madelyn already took out of the bag and the stuff that did not have a price on them! I was siked and fun with Madelyn. You can see the goodies below: I have also started another blog: http://www.leonasdayzerochallenge.blogspot.com/ this is a personal blog to follow as I complete my list of 101 things in 1001 days. One of my things to do was to post to this blog weekly - well I haven't done that yet since I started - so to keep this one going it is my goal to post 143 times in 1001 days - averages to be weekly but since I have fallen behind I will post extra times as I can. I have lots of projects to complete so I will have things to write about on here and share with you while I complete my list!

I hope everyone had good times with their fathers/husbands! We had a pretty good day. I got up to make a large brunch for Matt - the girls helped me make sausage and sausage gravy, bacon, hash browns, biscuits, eggs, fresh fruit and mini cinnamon rolls. Then we had the girls outside for a while and before you knew it, it was time to finish dinner. While I did that Matt went to pick up the new fish tank. We had BBQ ribs, corn on the cob and cheesy potatoes. Then Matt got the idea that he wanted to go to some batting cages so we with to this place called the Golf Dome. Matt, Madelyn and Grace hit some baseballs then we played a round of putt putt. It was interesting to play as Matt and I each had a baby in a snuggli strapped to us. Then to top it off we got some ice-cream on the way home. It was a pretty good day!
Here is the card I made for Matt for father's day:
I love to do reflective stamping - I haven't done is in awhile so I had fun doing this again.

With this card I did not have the exact right stamp that I wanted to use. This stamp is of a man and little boy but I wanted a little girl. So, I used my impress markers to color the areas of the image that I wanted to stamp and drew in the hair of a girl to make this image work for me. I used watercolor paints to do this image. Because I used the impress marker which is waterbased I did have a lot of running but it did seem to work for this image.

Reflective stamping is a great way to get more out of your stamps. What you do is stamp the image onto wax paper and place it where the relfection needs to be on the paper ink side down. Use a bryer to rub the image onto the paper. This will be a lighter outline in some cases - it works for me. But if you want it darker go over the image with an artist pen.

Stamps Used: Seaside sketches by SU

Cardstock & Papers: Always Artichoke, white and black cardstock, designer paper from a fall stack

Ink: Palette - Noir

Accessories: brads, wax paper, watercolors, impress markers, artist pen

Techniques: reflective stamping, watercolor painting

Good Moring Everyone! I haven't posted in awhile - so I figured I would post something to catch everyone up :)

Life is as busy as always - if it wasn't it would be a problem - right? :)


To start - I finally got the twins birth announcements ordered. I hope to get them in the mail soon too - It seems every time I go to sit and start writing out the envelopes - someone needs me!

I really love how the announcements turned out - it matches their bedroom.Speaking of their bedroom - they should be moving into their bedroom with in the next month. Matt still has to paint the ceiling - it is purple from when Grace and Madelyn were in there. They are still co-sleeping. Brooke sleeps through the night - from about 8pm to 6:30 am. Dakota still wakes for a feeding. Since she nurses well I just lay her next to me and she eats what she wants and we both sleep. Speaking of nursing - Brooke is finally nursing again. So she snacks in between bid feedings - she is chubbing up too! I am impressed with myself that my breasts have not fallen off - the twins get about 30-40 oz a day to share from me and I supplement with formula. I can't belive that they will be 16 wks on Sat.

Here are some more photos of the twins - Brooke is first and third. Dakota is second and forth.



Pregnancy hormones - or coming down from them are still driving me crazy. I feel like I am 13 again going through puberty. Work is well - I think my body is finally adjusted to being back. I was lucky to not lose any pay when I took my demotion to stay home to work. I am just the 'project person' at work that they call to do things. I will also get the opportunity to go to the office when they need me.

Grace and Madelyn are doing well. Grace starts preschool in the fall - all day every day so that will be good for her. She will definatly need the practice before Kindergarden. She is doing well with the babies and always like to help with getting their binki's or diapers. Madelyn is great with the twins - she will hold one while I hold the other. I will miss her when she goes back to school in the fall.

Here are some photos of the girls:



And then the girls with the twins:


Let's see - our salt water aquarium burst and we spent the wee hours of the morning trying to save what we could. Matt is reconsidering the army rather than the marines for a career change. I am still hoping that he continues with the Fire Departments. Our pool pump has decided to kick the bucket and taxes and insurance have increased causing the mortgage to go up $400. My laundry is piled a mile high on the dining room table to fold and my studio looks like a tornado hit it. So I really need to find time to get this stuff done.

I am having a Partylite Party on Sat to help Matt's mom start her business - please come for the ice cream and candles! It will be fun to hang out!

Oh and lastly, Matt and I restarting p90x again - we stopped due to his surgery (no more babies for us) so it will be nice to get back to that. I promise to update sooner next time :)

**it took me several days just to finish this post - I started it on 6/10 and finished it on 6/17 - I need to get better at this!

I just wanted to take the time to wish everyone a very Happy Mother's Day! Yesterday was rough for me with the twins and I being sick - but god must be thinking of me today - Dakota is sleeping with her daddy, Brooke is blissful in her swing, Madelyn and Grace are playing with their cousins and the system is down for work - so I am not working any OT - yippy!!!

Guess where I am going to be - my studio! I think I will just stamp or finish cleaning it - maybe both. Maybe I will be able to post more today!!

New and Upcoming TAC Specials!
Here is a list of current and upcoming TAC specials - email me or post a comment if you are interested in any of the speicals.

Here is a list of TACs current discontinued list: here! These stamps will be gone as of July 1st.

Here is the TAC blog where you can check out some current TAC contests.

Below are the upcoming specials:

http://www.theangelcompany.net/


http://www.theangelcompany.net/

May's SOTM

http://www.theangelcompany.net/

May's Vintage

http://www.theangelcompany.net/

June's SOTM

http://www.theangelcompany.net/

June's Vintage

http://www.theangelcompany.net/

No Time to Stamp :(

But I did have time to glitter :) When I couldn't find a peep stamp at the store - I went searching online to see what I could use to make my peep treat bags for the girls and their cousins.

I found a solid peep stamp - I printed it, traced it on my lightbox, scanned it back into the computer and the used Paint to make my 5 bunny image then I printed what I needed. It was a little more work than I wanted to do - but it was worth it! The kids loved their bags.
This picture was taken of the girls at the end of March. The babies are growing like weeds and the big girls look older each day.



When we had a nice warm day out - Grace and Papaw decided to get their toys out and play - they chased each other in the driveway for at least an hour - and if I recall Grace slept well that night!

Here is a cute picture of Madelyn and Grace coloring easter eggs.

Easter morning! I found those huge suckers at Walmart for a $1 each - actually between Micheals and Walmart I think that is what most of the items in their baskets cost! The Easter bunny is getting so thrifty!














I got all the girls dressed up on Easter - I wanted to get some good photos of each of the girls and some with their papaw. This may be his last easter with us and I wanted to make sure we documented it. He knows this will be his last and I could tell it bothered him a lot!

I got the babies these cute bows for their hair - because no matter how much pink I put them in everyone calls them boys!!

I am now selling AVON - the extra cash is always nice, Avon always has a great selection of gift ideas - great for a mom with no time to get out to shop - and with the huge pile of hospital bills anything will help. You can see a current catalog at www.youravon.com/leonacarver.

Baby Update
Dakota and Brooke and doing well. We are currently having an issue of Dakota acting like she is hungry all night. I gave her a bottle at 5 am this morning then let her nurse and she slept 4 hours. Dakota now weights 5.5 lbs and Brooke weights 5 lbs. that is up 13 oz from the weight check 3 days prior. They go back to the doctor in a week for the 1 month check up next week.

It is hard to believe that they are almost a month old. Looking at the calender had I not delivered on my own this would have been the weekend that I would have been induced and able to bring my girls home.

Dakota is a solid child - chubby chubby. I can tell the difference in the girls in just their weight. Brooke is more petite but is so observant and loves to look around!

Their first bath was a little hetic - they do not like to be cold. Now, their first shower was much more calm for both me and them. I took each baby to the shower with me and they just loved it. Matt had to do the dressing and the calming of the other one and they were not so happy about being out of the warmth!

Yesterday I posted a slide show of the babies - enjoy!

I got to Stamp!!

Yesterday I sat down to make Matt an anniversary card for today! It wasn't my best first attempt but he seemed to like the card! We have been married 5 years today!

This card is a 5x5 card. I used the Mr&Mrs set from Inkadinkados that I found at the Flower Factory. I used my cuttlebug to emboss the vellum and used some mono adheasive to mount to the card. It is a pretty simple card - I try not to over to cards for Matt as he always tells me I put way too much time into these cards.

Since I do not have 5x5 envelopes I told a regular 5x7 envelope after seeing a tutorial here - where I used my cuttlebug to punch hearts out of the envelope and the insterted a pieces of colored paper to seal off part of the envelope so that my card would fit nicely on one side. I think I like this better then trying to figure out how to make the envelope myself. Below is a photo of the card and envelope together:

Here are some recent photos of the girls - the babies - they are ever changing!

Great Frist Night Home
It is amazing how the night went last night. I think being the 3rd pregnancy I finally learned to take it easy. I didn't have 5 million things that I felt that I had to get done when I got home. I just relaxed and nursed my girls. When Madelyn was born I knew I was started classes the following week and had a lot to do. When Grace was born we knew we had to be out of our apartment in 30 days and move into our house. With Brooke and Dakota I just have to get my taxes done. And they will get done.

Last night I did their 7-8 feeding and then just crashed. Woke up around 11 to Brooke stirring so I got her up fed/changed her and she was out! Then it was Dakota's turn. At 3 am Brooke had started to stir so I got her up and did the routine all over again. Matt got up with Dakota to help wake her a little so that it would not take me so long. Then I was back to bed again until about 7 am. It really was not bad at all. I figured the first night home with them would be rough but the only issues I had was that my tailbone started to hurt and I am producing way more milk than the girls are drinking so engorgement was a little issue. My milk is fully in now at this point and we are doing well (minus the tailbone being sore).

I am spending the day in bed with Grace playing games and watching cartoons! That way I can get rid of the aches from delivery - my pelivs and ribs were so spread that they ache while trying to realign.

As promised here are a few more photos:

This is Brooke (top) and Dakota (bottom) while in the Nursery

Madelyn holding Dakota - Brooke was still being watched closely and only Matt and I really got to hold her.

Dakota Mae Carver - finally released from Nursery Prison.

Dakota's Close Up!

Brooke holding her Binki

My 4 Girls - Grace has Dakota - Madelyn has Brooke

The Fire Dept Sign - Thanks Chrissy and Kailey!

More photos and videos posted here and here!